RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A heron took flight in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, stretching its wings and soaring over a river after veterinarians saved it from near-certain death by removing a plastic cup attached to its neck and blocking its throat.
The mission to save the bird prompted an outcry in Brazil over the impact of plastic pollution on wildlife in a city famed for its forested mountains overlooking a bustling seaside metropolis.
As its cage opened, the lanky heron hesitated for a moment before stepping out and leaping into the air, its white-gray wings carrying it over the river in Rio's Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood.
"God willing, it won't find any plastic or cups on the way," said Jeferson Pires, a veterinary biologist at a wildlife center who first sighted the unfortunate animal this month and posted about its predicament on social media.
The logo of the popular 200-ml (6.7-oz) guarana fruit-flavored drink was clearly visible on the heron's throat before it was captured last Friday. Video showed it struggling in vain to pick the cup off with its orange beak.
"What we saw today with this heron, over these two weeks, is how much these animals are impacted by plastic," said environmentalist Isabelle de Loys after the bird was freed.
The obstruction was preventing it from eating, and would probably cause starvation in a matter of days without surgical intervention, Pires said.
The carnivorous heron was seen at one point vomiting a fish it could not swallow because of the cup. Pires said lesions on the bird's long neck were probably due to such failed efforts to eat, leaving it slightly underweight.
Following Pires' initial posts, the heron became an environmental symbol. Its saga garnered coverage from major newspapers and broadcasters in Brazil, and sparked outrage online over the damage caused by single-use plastics.
After the cup was surgically removed, Pires said he was eager to release the elegant bird back into nature.
"We saw no reason to keep holding her," he said.
The bird, known to scientists as a Cocoi heron, the largest species of heron found in Latin America, is closely related to the great blue heron.
With their habitat spanning Panama to the southern tip of South America, the birds weigh up to 3 kg (7 lbs) with wings of length about 40 cm (16 inches).